Robert Honstein is a New York-based Emmy-nominated composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal and film music. He was in Hong Kong last month for a concert with Matthew Lau and his percussion group Up:Strike. While he was here, Honstein joined Lau and soprano Joanne Shao in our studio. More on that later. But first, an exhibition that highlights a collaboration between a young emerging artist and a master neon craftsman that celebrates and reimagines Hong Kong’s neon heritage.

Percussionist Matthew Lau and his group The Up:Strike Project have previously appeared The Works to highlight their unique approach to contemporary percussion music.
Last month, they performed in a concert called, “Sonnets”, a collaboration with Emmy-nominated composer Robert Honstein that included new arrangements of his older works and a new piece specially written for the group. Known for his expressive storytelling, compositions with a sense of “dry humour” and “devilishly fun writing”, Honstein visited our studio with Matthew Lau and soprano Joanne Shao to tell us more.